What Emilia feels a bit more comfortable with these days is Dany taking control in Game of Thrones' more recent sex scenes, particularly since her nudity in the earlier seasons attracted so much attention.

"I get a lot of crap for having done nudes scenes and sex scenes," she explained. "That, in itself, is so anti-feminist. Women hating on other women is just the problem. That's upsetting, so it's kind of wonderful to have a scene where I was like, 'There you go!'"

Game of Thrones returns to HBO in the US on July 16, simulcast in the early hours of July 17 on Sky Atlantic in the UK.